Health Wealth Safe, Inc. and Dr. Subodh Agrawal have agreed to pay $1.29 million to settle allegations of submitting false claims to Medicare. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the settlement, emphasizing the importance of compliance with Medicare requirements.
“Knowingly billing Medicare for services that do not meet Medicare’s requirements is a fraud against taxpayers,” stated U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg. He assured that the office will continue enforcing the False Claims Act to recover payments from misconduct.
Kelly Blackmon, Special Agent in Charge at HHS-OIG, reiterated the duty of healthcare professionals to ensure compliance with federal billing requirements: “Healthcare professionals have a sworn duty to prioritize patient health and to ensure all services billed to the federal government are fully compliant with program requirements.”
The investigation was initiated by former employees who filed a whistleblower lawsuit under the False Claims Act, which allows individuals aware of fraud against the government to bring it forward and potentially share in any recovery obtained.
The United States alleged that Health Wealth Safe, under Dr. Agrawal's direction, submitted claims for remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services that were not reimbursable due to non-compliance with automatic reporting device requirements between September 2019 and January 2021.
The case was resolved in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia as United States ex rel. Chavous v. Health Wealth Safe, Inc., No. 1:22-cv-02553. The whistleblower will receive $238,650 plus attorney’s fees from this settlement.
This case was investigated by both the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia and HHS-OIG, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony DeCinque reaching the civil settlement.
It is important to note that these are allegations only, with no determination of liability made.
For more information, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office via email at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or phone at (404) 581-6185.